I personally don't think that having a credit card as a teenager is a financially smart decision. Same goes for college students that don't have money. I don't think most teenagers understand that if you don't have money don't spend. I have income, but not a lot. I would never trust myself with that responsibility. I know that having that temptation of spending with a card is higher than with cash. Especially as a teenager that is naive and immature. I think when you're looking at the aspect of "building credit history" it's a good idea. When you look at all the things that could go wrong compared to what could go right, It seems stupid.
There are so many different credit cards to choose from. Target REDcard, AEO Credit Card (American Eagle), Kwik Trip Cards. For the Target REDcard there are a lot of rewards you can get from it. You get 5% off any purchase every time with the card, you get free shipping at Target.com, and 30 extra days for a return. Also with the Target credit or debit card Target donates 1% of their profits to your choice elementary school. There is no annual fee, APR is 22.90%. Minimum interest charge is $1. Late payments are $35. For me, I would look at the benefits and also the APR. Especially when its high.
The AEO card, the rewards you get from the card are things like, 15% off your first purchase after getting the card. They also have things like, for every dollar you spend you get a point and after a certain amount of points you get a higher and higher percentage off of your purchases. That would only be good if you went there a lot or had it for a long time and over time you would rack up a lot of points and have higher percentage off of all of your purchases. There are member-only sales and events. Also if you buy 5 bras you get the 6th one free which only members can do.
The Kwik Trip card benefits are discounts up to 5% on gasoline during the introductory period.
